Raven 2010 Seated lady and Gupta king

South Asian Archaeology 2007

Proceedings of the 19th Meeting of the European Association of South Asian Archaeology

in Ravenna, Italy, July 2007

Volume II

Historic Periods

Edited by

Pierfrancesco Callieri Luca Colliva

BAR International Series 2133 2010

Published by Archaeopress Publishers of British Archaeological Reports Gordon House 276 Banbury Road Oxford OX2 7ED England [email protected] www.archaeopress.com BAR S2133 South Asian Archaeology 2007, Volume II: Historic Periods’ Proceedings of the 19th Meeting of the European Association of South Asian Archaeology in Ravenna, Italy, July 2007 Volume II: © Archaeopress and the individual authors 2010 ISBN 978 1 4073 0674 2 Cover image: Sculpture from Butkara I (Swat, Pakistan), inv. no. B 6000 (Drawing F. Martore, courtesy IsIAO). Printed in England by CMP (UK) Ltd All BAR titles are available from: Hadrian Books Ltd 122 Banbury Road Oxford OX2 7BP England [email protected] The current BAR catalogue with details of all titles in print, prices and means of payment is available free from Hadrian Books or may be downloaded from www.archaeopress.com

Corinne Pohl-Thiblet

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THE SEATED LADY AND THE GUPTA KING

Ellen M. Raven

‘Think big, mind the details’ would be a fitting motto for Gupta coin studies. In order to see the broad patterning of minting practice at Gupta mints, we need to unravel the nitty-gritty of particular coin designs. The first step to achieve this is proper classification.1 In 2001, at the South Asian Archaeology conference in Paris, I criticized the methods usually adopted for the classification of Gupta coins. I tested a new method, using as a case study the Lion-slayer coins of Candragupta II (Raven 2005). The rationale behind the new method is simple. Rather than focus on individual coin types and isolated elements of their devices,2 seek to understand the combinations of certain devices and legends, which may best be regarded as meaningful parts in a Gupta numismatic program. Understanding the choices that die carvers, mint masters and their patrons made, may bring us closer to fully appreciate these designs. What indeed generated the patterns that can be discerned beneath the typology of Gupta coins? This paper seeks to show that underneath this opulent numismatic imagery there is a consistent coupling, through successive reigns, of a specific idealized royal or royalty-related image on the obverse with a specific divine image on the reverse of the coin. Minor iconographic details may vary, but the intended identity of the figures does not. Such a specific combination of a royal or royalty-related image, a divine image and matching legends, once created to bring out a specific coin type, apparently became a basic ‘building block’ in the Gupta numismatic program. Within the parameters of a ‘building block’s basic design, a certain degree of variation was both accepted and manifest. Attributes and seats were among those variables, or the addition of new iconographic clues, such as the peacock introduced into designs upgraded for re-use in the time of Kumāragupta I (see below). Labels While unravelling the ‘building block’ patterning, any indiscriminate use of conventional labels for the sake of convenience should be avoided. Such labels suggest that we understand what we see, but mostly we are simply repeating what we have read in a catalogue or web-based coin list. Unfortunately the labelling for convenience’s

1 Philip Grierson and John Casey offer general guidelines on analysing design elements of coins (Grierson 1975: Chapter 4; Casey 1986: Chapter 9). 2 Though written with evident appreciation of the iconographic detailing in the designs, Chhanda Mukherjee’s 1991 study of ‘Gupta numismatic art’ is greatly marred by her fragmentized treatment of the design elements as completely individualized facets.

sake is common practice.3 It would be far more helpful if one would at least consider whether a particular label makes sense in the context of the overall iconography of a design and in the matrix offered by the concepts and beliefs of the age. As it happens, these touch stones for the applicability of labels are too often ignored. I shall illustrate this through a case study of the goddess seated on a throne, found on three out of the seven coin series that were created for Samudragupta (reigning between c. AD 350 and 375), namely his Sceptre, Archer and Battle-axe Types (Altekar 1957: 40-61; Raven 1994a: 201-72). She holds a fillet in her right hand and a cornucopia in her left hand.4 The ultimate aim of this paper is to test-drive the new methodology. The goddess with a cornucopia The lady on the throne is a miniature version of the genre of seated goddesses of fertility and abundance, holding a horn of plenty, in the sculptural repertoire of ancient Northwest India.5 Depending on further details in her iconography and the sculptural context, such images may for instance have represented the Buddhist goddess Hārītī (either alone or together with her male companion Pañcika) or she may represent Ardoxšo, the goddess of Fortune, whose background is ultimately Bactro-Iranian. The American photographer Josephine Powell photographed a spectacular stone statuette in the round of such a goddess in the Kabul Museum (Fig. 1).6 The lady sits to front on a throne with backrest, her feet firmly planted on a low footstool. She wears a long dress tied with a narrow belt beneath the breasts.7 The pleats of her garment cover her legs in a symmetrical fashion. Her left foot is damaged, as is the lower part of the cornucopia resting against her left shoulder. In her right hand she 3 E.g., recently in descriptions of 15 Gupta coins displayed at the grand Gupta art exhibition in Paris in 2007. 4 In a paper read in February 2007 at the Bengal Art Conference, I discussed all seated goddesses figuring on Samudragupta’s coins (on a throne, a wicker stool, or a lion). Each of these iconographic formats requires its own analysis. 5 The cornucopia is one of the most conspicious attributes shared by goddesses related to fortune, abundance and fertility in the Hellenized sculptural and numismatic arts of the Crossroads of Asia area. See for a few such sculptures e.g., Lyons & Ingholt 1957: figs 345, 347-48. On Ku·ān a coins the cornucopia is Ardoxšo’s distinctive attribute. Cf. Bhaskar Chattopadhyay 1977: 145-47. 6 Size and exact provenance unknown, although attributed to ‘Afghanistan’ according to the description available with the photograph in the image database of the Kern Institute Leiden. It is not clear whether the image survived the destruction of the Kabul Museum collections. 7 Gérard Fussman examined the dress and its frequent occurrence in numismatic and sculptural imagery of Ardoxšo and other goddesses (Fussman 1988: 3-5).

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clasps an as yet unidentified object with multiple globular shapes at the top and a flat, oblong, lower part.8 Her hair has been gathered on the top of her head, in a prominent bun tied with an ornamental band. The only other ornaments visible are double bracelets and double anklets. The remarkably detailed throne stands on lathe-turned feet and has been draped with a pleated cloth. Panels with lotus flowers decorate the vertical mid-section below the armrests and perhaps also the back. The upper part of the backrest, sloping upwards towards the rear, appears to be comfortably upholstered and covered with a near-plain fabric. The Gupta coin device of the goddess seated on a throne may have been indirectly inspired by such imagery from the North-West. The direct design prototype though, was offered by gold coins of the Ku·āna kings reigning after Vāsudeva I in the 3rd century AD.9 In that context the lady indeed represents Ardoxšo, a favoured dynastic protectoress of the Ku·āna kings. Her name has been written in Greek script in the field next to her (Fig. 2). For the Gupta coins the situation is different. There is still a legend, now in Brāhmī script of the period, but it refers to Samudragupta by one of several eloquent titles, e.g., parākrama- ‘(he of) bold advance’ (on the Sceptre coins, Fig. 3b) or ‘apratiratha-’, (he) with no equal’ (on the Archer coins, Fig. 4b). The identity of the female figure has to be inferred either from her iconography or from other ‘circumstantial evidence’. This allows for differences of interpretation, and for labels that may create iconographic confusion. Labels such as ‘European’ as in ‘European throne’ (supporting the goddess) and labels such as ‘non-Indian’ and ‘truly Indian’ to characterize the deity herself, as we shall see. The identity of the lady Who may we expect to sit on the throne? The most likely candidate is Śrī-Lak·mī or Rājya-Lak·mī, the goddess of Royal Fortune.10 However, the goddess looks like Ardoxšo on Ku·āna coins, and this has led some numismatists to indeed label her Ardoxšo; primarily, so it seems, because of the ‘un-Indian’ cornucopia in her left hand.11 In the symbolic language of sculpture and coins

8 Contrary to the standard placement of the cornucopia in the left hand, there is a surprising variation in the gestures and/or attributes of the opposite hand in representations of these seated goddesses. 9 This was pointed out long ago by John Allan (1914: lxx). Gritli von Mitterwallner describes and illustrates enlarged images of later Ku·āna coins with Ardoxšo seated on a high-backed throne (Mitterwallner 1986). Savita Sharma offers colour illustrations from specimens kept in the Bharat Kala Bhavan collection in Varanasi (Sharma 1999: pls 3-5). Robert Göbl describes and illustrates a large number of standing and seated Ardoxšo devices in his corpus of Ku·āna coins (Göbl 1984: 40). 10 One of the earliest, and still outstanding, articles on Śrī-Lak·mī’s iconography is by A.K. Coomaraswamy (1929). Among many other relevant publications I mention only a few prominent ones: the studies by Moti Chandra, Niranjan Ghosh and C. Sivaramamurti (Chandra 1948; Ghosh 1979; Sivaramamurti 1982). Bhagwant Sahai uses (without crediting) and expands Chandra’s data (Sahai 1975). 11 E.g., by P.L. Gupta, who identifies the standing goddess with

in the Cross-roads area, such a horn of plenty characterized imagery of various female divinities with powers over fortune, wealth and fecundity, as we saw earlier (Fig. 1). There is no reason to exclude Śrī from that group, as is also corroborated by a schist statuette of a standing goddess with a tall cornucopia, now in the British Museum (B 1959-1-15.1). Gérard Fussman read the Gāndhārī inscription in Kharo·Γhī script on the pedestal as ‘[ś]iriye paΡima’, ‘image of Śrī’, and he proposed a 2nd century AD date for it. Regarding the seated goddess on Samudragupta’s coins, other scholars were bothered not so much by the horn of plenty, but by the ‘un-Indian’ or ‘European’ throne on which she sits. A lady on a ‘non-Indian seat’ holding a ‘non-Indian’ attribute could not possibly represent the ‘truly Indian’ goddess Śrī-Lak·mī, whose iconography is usually infused with lotus symbolism and visual allusions to wealth that comes with regal power. One would expect her to be seen holding a lotus and showering coins on devotees attending on her.12 On Samudragupta’s coins there are no elephants bathing Śrī, no sacks of coins, no lotus seat. Still, in the cultural matrix of 4th century North India, she makes a much more likely candidate than Ardoxšo.13 Apparently then the Gupta mint masters chose a popular visual formula manifest in North India’s image store through coins, sealings and sculptures, of a royalty-related goddess of wealth known to sit on a throne and expected to hold an investiture fillet and a horn of plenty.14 Discerning users of these coins may perhaps have wondered at some of her unfamiliar attributes, but it is unlikely that they would have wondered who she represented. For it was common belief that a righteous king enjoyed the support of both a mortal and a divine spouse. To quote a verse from the great poet Kālidāsa of the Gupta-VākāΓaka age: ‘Though his harem abounded in damsels, it is by that noble queen and the goddess of Royal Fortune that the king considered himself truly wedded’ (Rāghuvamśa 1.32, as translated by Sivaramamurti 1983: 17). The choice of such an existing visual formula then may have been largely done for practical reasons. By retaining an existing numismatic device, now operating in a Gupta context, the mint masters could help smoothen the acceptance of the new gold issue, which is always a coin issuer’s concern. This choice for the reverse die in fact matches their acceptance of the Ku·āna-style obverse device of a standing king holding a sceptre and offering cornucopia on Samudragupta’s coins of Kāca Type (Altekar 1957: 78-89) and the goddess seated on a throne, with cornucopia, as Ardoxšo (Gupta 1981: 11). 12 By the Gupta period the image of Lak·mī or Gajalak·mī distributing wealth to devotees had become one of the most popular devices for administrative seals (Thaplyal 1970; Thaplyal 1972: 176-89). 13 Gonda 1954: 46; Pal 1988; Stoler Miller 1992; Raven 1994: 42-44. 14 Vikram Chand and Joe Cribb (2003: 24-35) illustrated these iconographic links from Roman through Ku·āna to Gupta coinage with gold coins from the Chand collection.


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oblations on an altar. The mint masters’ practical approach is sometimes criticized as ‘numismatic conservatism’, but might better be styled ‘numismatic pragmatism’, which in this case was matched by a keen sense of artistic innovation as well. The investiture fillet and the noose Most numismatists accept that it is indeed Śrī-Lak·mī who sits on the throne, donning attributes inherited from her predecessor in that position. Following, or more probably just copying, the great A.S. Altekar’s description (1957: 48), many numismatists still label the small and winding fillet in her right hand a noose (pāśa). By doing so, they follow an Indianizing interpretation of the device (see below), which ignores that Gupta coin imagery is still firmly rooted in Ku·āna sculptural and coin imagery. There the conferral, by a deity, of an investiture wreath with a fillet is the ultimate symbolic gesture to express divine support for the ruling king.15 Nobody seems to have had any second thoughts about giving Śrī- Lak·mī a noose, whereas such an instrument meant for punishment and forceful restraint makes no sense at all; neither in her mythic profile, nor in her iconography of the Gupta period, or any other period for that matter. Or are we to visualize that the goddess would sneak up and tie down the cakravartin king whenever his behaviour would require her divine intervention? If not a noose, what is the intended meaning of this fillet in the Gupta design? One might presume it is a mere obsolete remainder of an old iconography soon to be discarded. But in fact, the fillet keeps returning in Śrī- Lak·mī’s images, also in devices of several other coin types created for later Gupta kings. A ceremonial handing over of a diadem ribbon during the coronation ceremonies is not testified in the Indian textual sources.16 Possibly the connection between the fillet and a royal rite of investiture was still acknowledged in the Gupta period? For the time being the persistent presence of the fillet throughout the period of Gupta numismatic design

15 The motif was also used by mint masters of the Indo-Greeks. Some of their coin designs show a winged Nike conferring a laurel wreath with a fillet. In Parthian and Sasanian sculptural arts we see deities blessing the king in this way, e.g., in rock-side reliefs from Taq-e Bostan and Naqsh-e Rostam. Several other portraits of gods and goddesses on Ku·āna coins illustrate the same gesture of extending an investiture fillet to the king. Cf. Rosenfield (1967: 74-76). Savita Sharma misinterprets the fillet of Ardoxšo as a pāśa (Sharma 1999: 66). 16 Jan Gonda discusses the consecration of kings in ancient India. The Vedic rites involved in royal consecration include anointment, ascending the throne, striding like ViΒn u, and a chariot race. In the coronation ceremonies of the post-Gupta period, the king is anointed with various auspicious substances, adorned with the royal robes, the sacred thread, and various ornaments. He is led to the consecration hall which is furnished with the emblems of empire (including the throne). After being garlanded and anointed, he mounts an elephant and circumambulates the city. Gold, cows, maidens, brāhmanas and men with sweetmeats pass in front of the new king. Priests sprinkle the hero-king with holy waters, and the denizens of heaven cooperate in this act (Gonda 1966: 79-93).

remains an iconographic enigma awaiting a satisfactory explanation. The wicker stool Even in new designs created for Samudragupta, such as the Lyrist Type (Altekar 1957: 73-77), a new building block in our interpretation model, the goddess retains the same attributes found in the Sceptre and Archer Types: she extends the investiture fillet with her right hand, and balances the cornucopia on her left shoulder (Fig. 5b). This time we see her from aside in three-quarter view, seated on a wicker stool. Because of her attributes, P.L. Gupta, contrary to Altekar, insisted on identifying her as Ardoxšo (Altekar 1957: 76; Gupta 1981: 13). Although he identified the divine companion as Śrī-Lak·mī, Altekar considered her appearance together with a wicker stool ‘rather an unusual motif in the Hindu art’ (Altekar 1957: 28). On close inspection, however, the choice of a wicker stool for this design makes perfect sense when we consider in what role Śrī-Lak·mī has been cast here. The obverse presents the king seated on his throne, while playing the vīnā. Among the relatives and courtiers surrounding him is Royal Lak·mī herself, invisible indeed to the human eye, but attending on the king as his second spouse and seated close to him (in this case on the reverse of the coin) on a round wicker stool, as Samudragupta’s mortal queen Dattadevī would be. Such court scenes were quite popular in Indian art. An exquisite medallion from the Great Stūpa at Amaravati (AP) illustrates such a gathering from the Mandhātā jātaka. It shows King Mandhātΰ and the god Śakra sharing a wide throne. They are surrounded by a flock of court members, musicians and dancers, both seated and standing. One of the royal ladies enjoying the performance sits on a wicker stool with backrest.17 In case we would doubt that such a seat indeed fits ladies of all ranks, another scene from the Buddha’s life, also from Amaravati, confirms that it does. It shows Queen Māyā, seated on a wicker stool next to Śuddhodana’s throne, listening to the explanation of her vision of the descending White Elephant (Fig. 6). Apparently then Royal Lak·mī’s iconography as upgraded for the Lyrist Type perfectly fits the bill. More gradual modifications: The Battle-axe Type Let us now turn to the ‘building block’ usually labelled ‘King with Battle-axe Type’ (Altekar 1957: 56-61; Raven 1994a: 141-43). It accommodates three, slightly different, iconographies for Śrī-Lak·mī: 1. Lak·mī, seated on a throne, stretches out her

right hand, palm upwards, in varadamudrā, 17 Knox 1992: 78, fig. 23. Image available at the British Museum website http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/asia/l/roundel_of_the_mandhata_jataka.aspx

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dropping coins. The billowing fillet attribute has been replaced by a billowing scarf on her arm. In her left hand she holds a cornucopia (Fig. 7b).

2. As under 1, but in her left hand she holds a lotus (Fig. 8b).

3. In a third variety the throne is invisible, and only the huge lotus under the feet of Śrī-Lak·mī remains, suggesting it serves the goddess as a seat. She holds a fillet and a cornucopia (Fig. 9b).

Now how are we to understand such iconographic differences? How to interpret and then to label these? Allan suggested that the cornucopia was unintelligible to the Hindus, and that its resemblance to a flower led the coin designers to replace the cornucopia by a lotus (Allan 1914: lxxii). He thus interpreted the change as resulting from misinterpretation by coin designers. How might we reconcile this with the existence of many Gupta coin devices showing a very un-lotus like, quite explicit horn of plenty as an attribute? Vessels brimming with vegetation are a common theme already in early Indian art, so the overt symbolism of the overflowing cornucopia probably was not lost on ‘the Hindus’ as well.18 The more common approach is to label these different images gradual, ‘transitional stages in the transformation of the ‘non-Indian’ goddess Ardoxšo into the ‘Indian’ goddess Śrī-Lak·mī (Gupta 1981: 12; Mukherjee 1985: 23; Mukherjee 1990: 15). Yet, no numismatist has been quite explicit on how we should envision such a ‘gradual transformation’. Do they mean a gradual change in concept, visualized or documented through changed attributes and seats? Was the goddess at any stage deemed neither fully Iranian nor genuinely Indian? Are we seriously to believe that a Hindu handling the coins would perhaps recognize Ardoxšo in the goddess on the Sceptre coins, would doubt her true identity when handling Battle-axe coins, and would only be convinced of her true identity as Śrī-Lak·mī when seeing her holding a lotus attribute and sitting on a lotus? ‘Indianization’ Attributing a double identity to the seated goddess on Samudragupta’s coins more likely reflects the shortcomings of our analytic approach rather than religious praxis of the early Gupta period. The persistent rationale to visualize such a transformation process probably stems from a 20th century explanation model seeking evidence for an active process of ‘Indianization’. In such a model the Ku·ānas and everything else from the North-West was deemed ‘foreign’ and basically intruding 18 Both Vasudev Sharan Agrawala and Moti Chandra compared the cornucopia with the bull’s horn (śΰṅga) which was used in ancient India for special libations, for instance at a royal coronation (Agrawala 1965: 53-54; Chandra 1966).

upon South Asian cultural values, while the Gupta period was India’s true ‘Classical Age’ (Raven 2006a). C.S. Roy held a very outspoken view on the ‘Indianization’ of Gupta coinage (Roy 1982): ‘Never before had there been a more national monarchy in India than that of the Guptas’. In the Gupta period at last ‘religion […] was no longer dominated by deities of distant lands’. Instead, the Gupta age is characterized by ‘a sense of national awakening in which Indian traditions and feelings have found a prominent place and have either supplanted or absorbed the marked foreign elements which dominated life in previous periods’ (p. 144). Roy explains the borrowing as evidence for the profoundness of Gupta genius rather than the lack of it. ‘The Guptas inherited a well-established monetary system and they wanted to retain it in the interest of having a stabilized economy. They wanted to continue a tradition and strike coins with only such minor variations that the new issues, because of their akinness with the old, would be easily acceptable to the people. In bringing new coin-types, […] the Guptas deliberately went slow because they did not want to inflict new ideas unless the time was ripe for those’ (Roy 1982: 151). Parallel iconographies I do agree with Roy that retaining the iconography of Ardoxšo-like images for the earliest Gupta coin issues was indeed a smart decision of the mint masters. For the slightly later ‘building block’ of the ‘King with Battle-axe’, in which he is accompanied by Śrī as described above, three alternative iconographies were employed for her device (not necessarily all at the same mint): 1. varadamudrā dropping coins / cornucopia / throne

(Fig. 7b); 2. varadamudrā dropping coins / lotus / throne

(Fig. 8b); 3. investiture fillet / cornucopia / lotus seat (Fig. 9b). It is unlikely that the patterning would have allowed for Battle-axe building blocks with two different goddesses (Ardoxšo and Śrī-Lak·mī). Although her iconography was flexible, the identity of the goddess was not. Apparently a building block could accommodate several parallel iconographies without change of intended meaning. This iconographic process entailed more than simply replacing one attribute by another: we are witnessing a power struggle between the demands of two conflicting processes. On the one hand there is the long-term retaining of design elements (the ‘numismatic pragmatism’ I mentioned earlier) aimed at improving the acceptance of coins as money; on the other hand there is the process of iconographic optimization through consecutive ‘updates’ or ‘upgrades’, a kind of actualization of the iconographic characteristics of an existing visual design.


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Candragupta II’s new and now rare coins of Couch Type, illustrating one of the first new building blocks of his time, retain parallel iconographies for Śrī-Lak·mī with a few surprising innovations (Altekar 1957: 133-38; Raven 1994a: 75-79). Both the king and his divine consort are seated on a throne. The variables are: 1. Śrī sits to front on a throne with lathe-turned

legs. She holds a fillet (rh) and a lotus (lh; Fig. 10);

2. Śrī sits to front on a throne with lathe-turned legs. She displays varadamudrā with her extended right hand; the fillet is now a piece of clothing on her shoulders waving in the left field. With her left hand Śrī raises a lotus to her face (Fig. 11).19

3. Śrī sits to left on a low, backless throne with small steps below. A lotus-leaf cushion indicates the divine nature of its occupant. The goddess lifts a lotus, on a fairly thick, long stem, to her face; with her left arm she supports herself. The fillet, draped across her shoulders, waves towards the legend in the right field (Fig. 12).

Apparently the cornucopia was no longer part of her iconography here, although we cannot be entirely sure, as so very few Couch Type coins have survived. The next new building block, for Candragupta’s newly invented coins of Horseman Type (Altekar 1957: 121-26; here Fig. 13), reveals an iconographic upgrading of a design that had been used earlier for Samudragupta’s Lyrist Type (Fig. 5b). Śrī sits on a wicker stool usually covered with a lotus-leaf cushion to mark her special status (as in the contemporary Couch Type device discussed above). The investiture fillet persists in the design, but instead of a cornucopia she now holds a lotus in her left hand. There does not seem to have been an obvious contextual reason for the designer to choose a wicker stool as an appropriate seat for the divine lady ‘escorting’ the king on horseback. Perhaps the device was simply ‘borrowed’ from the Lyrist Type building block. Still, the pair of king on horseback and goddess on wicker stool persists in the numismatic program also under Kumāragupta I in two parallel manifestations (Altekar 1957: 174-83). In one Horseman Type design Śrī-Lak·mī holds a boldly waving investiture fillet, as on the Horseman coins of Candragupta II (Fig. 14). But much more often she is seen feeding grapes to a peacock at her feet, an ingenious upgrading of the ‘parent’ designs (Fig. 15; cp. with figs 5b and 13b).20

19 Quite exceptionally, this reverse design is shared with certain early Archer Type coins of Candragupta II, proving that they came from the same mint in approximately the same period (Raven 1994a: 75-76). This is also borne out by other mintidiomatic features, including the legend next to Śrī, the shape of the symbols in the left field, and the fabric of the coins. 20The presence of the peacock in several designs confused Chhanda Mukherjee, who points out that this is not part of the regular

Peacocks for Kumāragupta I The addition of a peacock in most reverse designs for Kumāragupta’s Horseman (Figs 14-15) and Tigerslayer Types (Fig. 16) may best be regarded as smart tactics to upgrade two existing designs in order to get across the dynastic message of the age: King Kumāragupta could be put on a par with Kūmara (Kārttikeya), the young and valiant general of the gods. The king also used titles that include the element ‘mahendra’, another name of Kārttikeya. And unique for Kumāragupta’s time is the issue of dīnāras bearing top-quality images of, on the obverse, King Kumāra feeding a peacock, and on the reverse Kārttikeya seated on peacock (Fig. 17). How much closer can you get?21 One of the most telling illustrations of the iconographic upgrading of a specific building block in the mature Gupta period is offered by rare coins of Lyrist Type created for Kumāragupta I (Altekar 1957: 211-13; here Fig. 18). His mint masters in fact revived the Lyrist Type of Samudragupta discussed earlier (Fig. 5a-b). P.L. Gupta thought that the lady seated on the wicker stool with Samudragupta represented Ardoxšo, because of her cornucopia. Others did not venture further than to label her ‘a goddess’. Above I have argued that she is no other than Śrī in a courtly setting, who may then be expected to stay part and parcel of this building block through time. Her iconography on these coins of Kumāragupta I confirms this. She sits not on a wicker stool, but on a low throne with backrest, quite like the seat on which the king himself sits. But there are more signs of the iconographic upgrading through which Gupta coin designing had gone since the time of Samudragupta. Śrī-Lak·mī no longer holds an investiture fillet and cornucopia, but the fillet now serves her as a scarf draped around her shoulders; and in her right hand she lifts a lotus to her face. There was never any doubt about this goddess’ true identity in the minds of the subjects of Samudragupta and his successors handling Lyrist Type coins. But we, as modern interpreters outside the Gupta cultural matrix, can easily be beguiled by the flexibility of the iconographic language. Archer coins The divine identity of the lady with the lotus in hand and seated on a lotus, as found on the Archer coins from the time of Candragupta II onwards, has never been an issue with numismatists, as lotuses had characterized Śrī-Lak·mī’s iconography from the very start. It is quite understandable that her image with such utterly familiar features eventually surpassed the other portraits of Śrī-Lak·mī within the Gupta coin program.

iconography of Śrī-Lak·mī (Mukherjee 1991: 40). 21 Altekar argued that the type ‘was intended to pay homage to that deity’ [Kumāra] (Altekar 1957: 203). I would instead suggest that the Gupta propaganda machine killed two birds with one stone, as the coin type carries prominent images of both Kumāras.

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Ultimately descended from the Sceptre Type, the Archer coins were still rare under Samudragupta, and retain the throne for Śrī-Lak·mī. With the change of power into the hands of Candragupta II, the lotus-seated Lady of Fortune makes her appearance on coins of Archer Type (Fig. 19), next to a version in which she still sits on a throne (Altekar 1957: 91-105; Raven 1994a: 308-66). Judging from the huge number of Archer coins that have survived from this period, and their remarkably rich design variety, the Archer Type acquired the status of a dynastic issue shortly after its iconographic updating with the lotus-seated Śrī.22 Henceforth the Archer Type building block remained paramount in the numismatic program for every king. In the time of Kumāragupta I (reign c. AD 420-450), the iconographically close Swordsman king was also matched with the lady on the lotus (Fig. 20a-b). For the issue of the – now rare – coins of King-and-Queen Type for Kumāragupta I, the mint masters upgraded the original image of Śrī-Lak·mī – with fillet and cornucopia and seated on a lion – found on coins of Samudragupta (Fig. 21b) by replacing the fillet with a lotus. We can already witness a similar iconographic change in rare Lion-slayer coins of Candragupta II, where Śrī-Lak·mī, with a prominent lotus in her right hand, sits astride a lion that faces left (Fig. 22). The frontal rather than sideward placement of the goddess on the King-and-Queen coins of Kumāragupta may have been inspired by the design of specific, and again rather rare, Archer coins in his name (Fig. 23), as was already suggested by Altekar (1954: 306-07; Altekar 1957: 244-47; Raven 1994a: 405, fig. c139). From the time of Skandagupta (reign c. AD 455-467) onwards, no new reverse portraits of the Divine Lady of Good Fortune were developed, but several existing images were re-employed or updated. Śrī, holding fillet (rh) and lotus (lh), and seated on a lotus, accompanies Skandagupta both as a Royal Archer and in those designs where the king appears together with a lady of uncertain identity, who might represent his mother, his divine spouse Śrī-Lak·mī, or his queen (Allan 1914: pl. 19; Altekar 1957: 240-47; Raven 1994b: 441-51; Raven 2006b; here Fig. 24). For the extremely rare coins of Chattra (Parasol) Type of Skandagupta, of which only one specimen was recovered in the Bayana hoard, the mint masters re-employed the Chattra Type building block previously devised for coins of Candragupta II (Altekar 1957: 127-33; Raven 2001). Śrī appears standing to left on a lotus support, while holding a long, waving fillet in her right hand, and a lotus in the opposite hand (Fig. 25). For the kings after Skandagupta that occupied the throne in the tumultuous final decades of Gupta rule, only Archer coins, with Śrī-Lak·mī seated on her lotus, were

22 Candragupta II’s Archer coins are usually hugely overrepresented in Gupta coin collections. Of the recovered part of the Bayana hoard, 44 % belonged to this type.

issued (Fig. 26), and the type survives into post-Gupta coin design as well.23 It goes to show: never change a winning team. Bibliographic References Agrawala, V.S. (1965) Studies in Indian Art. Varanasi.

Allan, J. (1914) Catalogue of the Coins of the Gupta Dynasties and of Śaśāṅka, King of GauΡa. London.

Altekar, A.S. (1954) Catalogue of the Gupta Gold Coins in the Bayana Hoard. Bombay.

Altekar, A.S. (1957) The Coinage of the Gupta Empire and its Imitations (Corpus of Indian Coins 4). Varanasi.

Casey, J. (1986) Understanding Ancient Coins: an Introduction for Archaeologists and Historians. London.

Chandra, M. (1948) ‘Our Lady of Beauty and Abundance: Padmaśrī’, Journal of the United Provinces Historical Society 21: 15-42.

Chandra, M. (1966) ‘Nidhiśΰiṅga (Cornucopia): a Study in Symbolism’, Prince of Wales Museum Bulletin 9: 1-33.

Chandra, V. & Cribb, J. (2003) Ancient Indian Coins from the Chand Collection in the Asian Civilisations Museum, Singapore. Singapore.

Chattopadhyay, B. (1977) Coins and Icons: a Study of Myths and Symbols in Indian Numismatic Art. Calcutta.

Coomaraswamy, A.K. (1929) ‘Early Indian Iconography II. Śrī-Lak·mī’, Eastern Art: a Quarterly 1 (3): 175-89.

Fussman, G. (1988) ‘Une statuette gandharienne de la déesse Śrī’, Annali dell’Istituto Universitario Orientale 48: 1-9.

Ghosh, N. (1979) Concept and Iconography of the Goddess of Abundance and Fortune in Three Religions of India. Burdwan.

The Golden Age of Classical India: the Gupta Empire. Galeries nationales du Grand Palais, Paris, April 4-June 25, 2007. Paris.

Göbl, R. (1984) System und Chronologie der Münzprägung des Kušānreiches (Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften; Philosophisch-Historische Klasse; Veröffentlichungen der Numismatischen Kommission). Wien.

Gonda, J. (1966) Ancient Indian Kingship from the Religious Point of View. Leiden.

23 I would consider the Horseman coins of ‘Prakāśāditya’ (Allan 1914: pl. 22) to fall outside the scope of imperial Gupta coinage, but cannot substantiate this at present with a detailed enquiry. They were most likely issued for a Hūn a patron, as was suggested earlier by Göbl.


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Grierson, Ph. (1975) Numismatics. London.

Gupta, P.L. & Srivastava, S. (1981) Gupta Gold Coins. Varanasi.

Knox, R. (1992) Amaravati: Buddhist sculpture from the Great Stūpa. London.

Lyons, I. & Ingholt, H. (1957) Gandhāran Art in Pakistan. New York.

Mitterwallner, G.M. (1986) Ku·āna Coins and Ku·āna Sculptures from Mathurā (Government Museum, Mathurā, Growse Memorial Lectures 4). Mathurā.

Mukherjee, B.N. (1985) Art in Gupta and Post-Gupta Coinages of Northern India. Lucknow.

Mukherjee, B.N. (1990) The Indian Gold: an Introduction to the Cabinet of Gold Coins in the Indian Museum, with the assistance of T.N. Raychaudhuri. Calcutta.

Mukherjee, C. (1991) Gupta Numismatic Art: an Artistic and Iconographic Study. Delhi.

Pal, P. (1989) ‘The Chrowrie-bearing Goddess on the Aśvamedha Type of Samudragupta’s Coin’, Ars Orientalis 18: 197-205.

Raven, E.M. (1994a) Gupta Gold Coins with a GaruΡa-Banner: Samudragupta to Skandagupta. 2 vols (Gonda Indological Studies 1). Groningen.

Raven, E.M. (1994b) ‘Invention and Innovation: Royal Gupta Gold Coins’ in M.L. Carter (ed.), A Treasury of Indian Coins, 39-56. Bombay.

Raven, E.M. (2001) ‘Defining Gupta Mint Idioms: the Chattra (Parasol) Coins of Candragupta II’ in M.J. Klokke & K.R. van Kooij (eds), Fruits of Inspiration: Studies in Honour of Prof. J.G. de Casparis, on the Occasion of his 85th Birthday, 389-406 (Gonda Indological Studies 11). Groningen.

Raven, E.M. (2005) ‘Candragupta II, the Lion-Slayer’ in SAA 2001, vol. II, Historical Archaeology and History, 615-22. Paris.

Raven, E.M. (2006a) ‘Ku·āna Echoes and the “Indianization” of Early Gupta Gold Coin Design’ in F. De Romanis & S. Sorda (eds), Dal Denarius al Dinar: L’Oriente e la Moneta Romana, 201-37 (Istituto Italiano di Numismatica, Studi e Materiali 12). Roma.

Raven, E.M. (2006b) ‘A Ring for the King’. Journal of Bengal Art 9-10: 71-88.

Rosenfield, J.M. (1967) The Dynastic Arts of the Kushans. Berkeley.

Roy, C.S. (1982) ‘Foreign Elements in the Coinage of the Guptas’ in A.M. Shastri (ed.), Foreign Elements in Indian Indigenous Coins, 144-52. Varanasi.

Sahai, B. (1975) Iconography of Minor Hindu and Buddhist Deities, esp. chapter XIII on ‘Lak·mī’. New Delhi.

Sivaramamurti, C. (1982) Śrī Lakshmi in Indian Art and Thought. New Delhi.

Sivaramamurti, C. (1983) Numismatic Parallels of Kālidāsa. New Delhi (First ed. 1945).

Thaplyal, K.K. (1970) ‘Gajalak·mī on Seals’ in D.C. Sircar (ed.), Foreigners in India and Lak·mī and Sarasvatī in Art and Literature, 112-25. Calcutta.

Thaplyal, K.K. (1972) Studies in Ancient Indian Seals: a Study of North Indian Seals and Sealings from Circa Third Century B.C. to Mid-Seventh Century A.D. Lucknow.

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Fig. 1 - Goddess of Fortune on a throne. Afghanistan, formerly Kabul

Museum. Ku·ān a period.

Fig. 2a-b - Vāsi·ka, Sceptre Type. The king, with sceptre (lh), offers on

an altar; Ardoxšo, seated on a throne with backrest, holds an investiture fillet (rh) and cornucopia (lh).

Fig. 3a-b - Samudragupta, Sceptre Type. The king, with sceptre (lh), offers oblations on an altar; Śrī-Lak·mī, seated on a throne, holds a fillet (rh) and

cornucopia (lh).


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Fig. 4a-b - Samudragupta, Archer Type. The king stands next to a GaruΡa-banner; Śrī-Lak·mī, seated on a throne.

Fig. 5a-b - Samudragupta, Lyrist Type. The king, seated, plays the vīn ā; Śrī-Lak·mī, seated on a wicker stool, holds a fillet (rh) and cornucopia (lh).

Fig. 6 - Interpretation of the dream of Queen Māyā. Amaravati Stūpa. Limestone, c. 1st-2nd century AD.

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Fig. 7a-b - Samudragupta, Battle-axe Type. The king, armed with battle-axe (lh), stands with an attendant holding a crescent banner; Śrī-Lak·mī, seated on a throne, shows varadamudrā dropping coins, with billowing scarf (rh) and cornucopia (lh).

Fig. 8a-b - Samudragupta, Battle-axe Type. Śrī-Lak·mī, seated on a

throne, shows varadamudrā (rh) and lotus (lh).

Fig. 9a-b - Samudragupta, Battle-axe Type. Śrī-Lak·mī, seated on a

lotus, with fillet (rh) and cornucopia (lh).


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Fig. 10 - Candragupta II, Couch Type. The king, seated to left on a throne, holds a lotus; Śrī-Lak·mī, seated to front on a throne, holds a fillet (rh) and a lotus (lh).

Fig. 11 - Candragupta II, Couch Type. The king, seated to left on a throne, holds a lotus; Śrī-Lak·mī, seated to front on a throne, shows varadamudrā (rh) and holds a lotus (lh).

Fig. 12 - Candragupta II, Couch Type. The king, seated to left on a throne, holds a lotus; Śrī-Lak·mī, seated to left on a low throne with steps below, holds a lotus (rh).

Fig. 13 - Candragupta II, Horseman Type. The king rides to right on a

horse; Śrī-Lak·mī, seated to left on a wicker stool, holds a fillet (rh) and a lotus (lh).

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Fig. 14a-b - Kumāragupta I, Horseman Type. The king rides to right on a horse; Śrī-Lak·mī, seated to left on a wicker stool, holds fillet (rh) and lotus (lh).

Fig. 15 - Kumāragupta I, Horseman Type. The king rides to right on a horse; Śrī-Lak·mī, seated to left on a wicker stool, feeds grapes to a peacock (rh) and holds a lotus (lh).

Fig. 16a-b - Kumāragupta I, Tigerslayer Type. The king, standing to left (his right), shoots an arrow at a tiger; Śrī-Lak·mī, standing to left on a lotus, feeds grapes to a peacock (rh) and holds a lotus (lh).

Fig. 17a-b - Kumāragupta I, Kārttikeya / Peacock Type. The king, standing to left, feeds grapes to a peacock; Kārttikeya, riding on his peacock mount, displays varadamudrā (rh) dropping coins and holds a spear (lh).


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Fig. 18 - Kumāragupta I, Lyrist Type. The king, seated on a low throne,

plays the vīn ā; Śrī-Lak·mī, seated on a wicker stool, holds a lotus (rh).

Fig. 19 - Candragupta II, Archer Type II.9. The king, with bow (lh) and

arrow (rh), stands to left next to a GaruΡa-banner; Śrī-Lak·mī, seated on a lotus, holds a fillet (rh) and a lotus (lh).

Fig. 20a-b - Kumāragupta I, Swordsman Type. The king, standing to

left, offers on an altar at his feet; a GaruΡa-banner in the left field; Śrī-Lak·mī, seated on a lotus, holds fillet (rh) and lotus (lh).

Fig. 21a-b - Samudragupta, King-and-Queen Type. Candragupta I and Kumāradevī standing together; the king shows a small round object (not visible on this specimen) to his queen (rh) and holds a crescent staff (lh); Śrī-Lak·mī, seated on a recumbent lion, holds fillet (rh) and cornucopia (lh).

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Fig. 22 - Candragupta II, Lion-slayer Type. The king, standing to right, shoots an arrow at a lion while trampling it; Śrī-Lak·mī, seated to left on a recumbent lion, holds a lotus (rh).

Fig. 23a-b - Kumāragupta I, Archer Type. The king, standing to left, holds bow (lh) and arrow (rh); a GaruΡa-banner in the left field; Śrī-Lak·mī, seated on a lotus, holds a lotus (rh).

Fig. 24a-b - Skandagupta, King-and-Queen Type. Skandagupta and a royal lady of uncertain identity stand on either side of a GaruΡa-banner; Śrī-Lak·mī, seated on a lotus.

Fig. 25 - Skandagupta, Chattra (Parasol) Type. The king, beneath a parasol held up by a dwarfish attendant, offers oblations (rh); Śrī-Lak·mī, standing to left, holds a fillet (rh) and a lotus (lh).

Fig. 26a-b - Kumāragupta II or III, Archer Type. The king stands to left; in the left field a GaruΡa-banner; Śrī-Lak·mī, seated on a lotus, with fillet (rh) and lotus (lh).


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List of illustrations All coins illustrated are gold dīnāras Obv.= obverse side; Rev.= reverse side

Fig. 1. Stone image in the round of a goddess seated on a throne with backrest and lathe-turned legs. She holds a cornucopia (lh) and an unknown object (rh). Dimensions unknown. Afghanistan, formerly Kabul Museum. Ku·ān a period. Photograph Josephine Powell, Rome, AFI-214. (Photo courtesy Kern Institute Leiden. © Josephine Powell / Documentation Center Fine Arts Library, Harvard University). Fig. 2a-b. Vāsi·ka, Sceptre Type. Obv.: The king, with sceptre (lh), offers on an altar; Rev.: Ardoxšo, seated on a throne with backrest, holds an investiture fillet (rh) and cornucopia (lh). Weight 7.95 g (122.7 grains); diameter 2.2 cm. Formerly private collection Ettingen K12 (Photo E. M. Raven).

Fig. 3a-b. Samudragupta, Sceptre Type. Obv.: The king, with sceptre (lh), offers oblations on an altar; a GaruΡa-banner in the left field; Rev.: Śrī-Lak·mī, seated on a throne, holds a fillet and cornucopia (lh). Weight 7.56 g (116.7 grains); diameter 2.05 cm. Formerly private collection Ettingen G16 (Photo E. M. Raven).

Fig. 4a-b. Samudragupta, Archer Type. Obv.: The king, with bow (lh) and arrow (rh), stands next to a GaruΡa-banner; Rev.: Śrī-Lak·mī, seated on a throne, holds a fillet (rh) and cornucopia (lh). Weight 7.58 g (117 grains); diameter 2 cm. Formerly private collection Ettingen G14 (Photo E. M. Raven).

Fig. 5a-b. Samudragupta, Lyrist Type. Obv.: The king, seated on a low throne, plays the vīn ā; Rev.: Śrī-Lak·mī, seated on a wicker stool, holds a fillet (rh) and cornucopia (lh). Weight 7.71 g (119 grains); diameter 2.1 cm. Formerly private collection Ettingen G8 (Photo E. M. Raven).

Fig. 6. Interpretation of the dream of Queen Māyā. Narrative relief on a coping stone from the Amaravati Stūpa. Limestone, c. 1st-2nd century AD. Now Government State Museum and National Art Gallery, Chennai (Photo Kern Institute Leiden, Digibeeld no. 16762. Courtesy Friends of the Kern Institute).

Fig. 7a-b. Samudragupta, Battle-axe Type. Obv.: The king stands, armed with battle-axe, an attendant on his right side holding a crescent banner; Rev.: Śrī-Lak·mī, seated on a throne, with varadamudrā dropping coins, billowing scarf (rh) and cornucopia (lh). Weight 7.55 g (116.5 grains); diameter 1.97 cm. Bharat Kala Bhavan Varanasi, acc. no. 7143, cat. no. 41 (Photo E. M. Raven).

Fig. 8a-b. Samudragupta, Battle-axe Type. Obv.: similar to fig. 7a; Rev.: Śrī-Lak·mī, seated on a throne, with varadamudrā, billowing scarf (rh) and lotus (lh). Weight 7.43 g (114.7 grains); diameter 2.14 cm. Bharat Kala Bhavan Varanasi, acc. no. 8675, cat. no. 44 (Photo E. M. Raven).

Fig. 9a-b. Samudragupta, Battle-axe Type. Obv.: similar to figs 7a and 8a; Rev.: Śrī-Lak·mī, seated on a lotus, with fillet (rh) and cornucopia (lh). Weight: 7.57 g (116.9 grains); diameter: 2.0 cm. Patna Museum, acc. no. 18550 (Photo E. M. Raven).

Fig. 10. Candragupta II, Couch Type. Obv.: The king, seated to left on a throne, holds a lotus (rh); Rev.: Śrī-Lak·mī, seated to front on a throne, holds a fillet (rh) and a lotus (lh). Weight: 7.74 g (119.4 grains); diameter: 2.03 cm. Bayana hoard no. 1191 (After Altekar 1954: pl. 18.13).

Fig. 11. Candragupta II, Couch Type. Obv.: The king, seated to left on a throne, holds a lotus; Rev.: Śrī-Lak·mī, seated to front on a throne, shows varadamudrā (rh) and holds a lotus (lh). Weight: 7.43 g (114.7 grains); diameter: 2.03 cm. British Museum London, cat. no. 102 (After Allan 1914: pl. 6.8).

Fig. 12. Candragupta II, Couch Type. Obv.: The king, seated to left on a throne, holds a lotus; Rev.: Śrī-Lak·mī, seated to left on a low throne with steps below, holds a lotus (rh). Weight: 7.68 g (118.5 grains); diameter: 2.03 cm. Bayana hoard no. 1189 (After Altekar 1954: pl. 18.11).

Fig. 13. Candragupta II, Horseman Type. Obv.: The king rides to right on a horse; Rev.: Śrī-Lak·mī, seated to left on a wicker stool, holds a fillet (rh) and a lotus (lh). Weight: 7.8 g (120.4 grains); diameter: 2.0 cm. Formerly Dufour collection no. 30 (Photo E. M. Raven).

Fig. 14a-b. Kumāragupta I, Horseman Type. Obv.: The king rides to right on a horse; Rev.: Śrī-Lak·mī, seated to left on a wicker stool, holds a fillet (rh) and a lotus (lh). Weight: 8.07 g (124.5 grains); diameter: 2 cm. Formerly private collection Ettingen G3 (Photo E. M. Raven).

Fig. 15. Kumāragupta I, Horseman Type. Obv.: The king rides to right on a horse; Rev.: Śrī-Lak·mī, seated to left on a wicker stool, feeds grapes to a peacock (rh) and holds a lotus (lh). Weight: 8.09 g (124.8 grains); diameter: 1.85 cm. Lingen collection (Photo J. Lingen).

Fig. 16a-b. Kumāragupta I, Tigerslayer Type. Obv.: The king, standing to left (his right), shoots an arrow at a tiger at his feet; Rev.: Śrī-Lak·mī, standing to left on a lotus, feeds grapes to a peacock (rh) and holds a lotus (lh). Weight: 8.09 g (124.8 grains); diameter: 1.9 cm. Formerly private collection Ettingen G28 (Photo E. M. Raven).

Fig. 17a-b. Kumāragupta I, Kārttikeya / Peacock Type. Obv.: The king, standing to left, feeds grapes to a peacock; Rev.: Kārttikeya, riding on his peacock mount, displays varadamudrā (rh) dropping coins and holds a spear (lh). Weight: 8.2 g (126.5 grains); diameter: 1.95 cm. Bayana hoard no. 1695. Bharat Kala Bhavan Varanasi, acc. no. 114, cat. no. 192 (Photo E. M. Raven).

Fig. 18. Kumāragupta I, Lyrist Type. Obv.: The king, seated on a low throne, plays the vīn ā; Rev.: Śrī-Lak·mī, seated on a wicker stool, holds a lotus (rh). Weight: 8.12 g (125.3 grains); diameter: 1.91 cm. Bayana hoard no. 1810 (After Altekar 1954: pl. 31.4).

Fig. 19. Candragupta II, Archer Type II.9. Obv.: The king, with bow (lh) and arrow (rh), stands to left next to a GaruΡa-banner; Rev.: Śrī-Lak·mī, seated on a lotus, holds a fillet (rh) and a lotus (lh). Weight: 8.0 g (123.5 grains); diameter: 1.9 cm. Formerly Dufour collection no. 16 (Photo E.M. Raven).

Fig. 20a-b. Kumāragupta I, Swordsman Type. Obv.: The king, standing to left, offers on an altar at his feet; a GaruΡa-banner in the left field; Rev.: Śrī-Lak·mī, seated on a lotus, holds a fillet (rh) and a lotus (lh). Weight: 7.969 g (123.0 grains); diameter 1.9 cm. Patna Museum, acc. no. 18564 (Photo E. M. Raven).

Fig. 21a-b. Samudragupta, King-and-Queen Type. Obv.: Candragupta I and Kumāradevī standing together; the king shows a small round object (not visible on this specimen) to his queen (rh) and holds a crescent staff (lh); Rev.: Śrī-Lak·mī, seated on a recumbent lion, holds a fillet (rh) and cornucopia (lh). Weight: 7.60 g (117.3 grains); diameter 2.1 cm. Formerly private collection Ettingen (Photo E. M. Raven).

Fig. 22. Candragupta II, Lion-slayer Type. Obv.: The king, standing to right, shoots an arrow at a lion while trampling it; Rev.: Śrī-Lak·mī, seated to left on recumbent lion, holds a lotus (rh) and supports herself with her left hand. Weight: 7.891 g (121.8 grains); diameter: 2.02 cm. Lingen collection (Photo J. Lingen).

Fig. 23a-b. Kumāragupta I, Archer Type, Variety III.2.2. Obv.: The king, standing to left, holds bow (lh) and arrow (rh); a GaruΡa-banner in the left field; Rev.: Śrī-Lak·mī, seated on a lotus; holds a lotus (rh) and rests her left hand on her thigh. Weight: 8.194 g (126 grains); diameter 1.8 cm. Bayana hoard no. 1308. National Museum New Delhi, acc. no. 51.50/45 (Photo courtesy National Museum New Delhi).

Fig. 24. Skandagupta, King-and-Queen Type. Obv.: Skandagupta and a royal lady of uncertain identity (possibly the queen-mother; see Raven 2006b) stand on either side of a GaruΡa-banner. The lady shows a ring on her finger to the king (rh); in the left hand she holds a lotus, which suggests that she could be Śrī-Lak·mī; Rev.: Śrī-Lak·mī, seated on a lotus, holds a fillet (rh) and a lotus (lh). Weight: 8.467 g (130.7 grains); diameter 1.9 cm. Lingen collection (Photo J. Lingen).

Fig 25. Skandagupta, Chattra (Parasol) Type. Obv.: The king, standing beneath a parasol held up by a dwarfish attendant on his left, offers oblations (rh); Rev.: Śrī-Lak·mī, standing to left, holds a fillet (rh) and a lotus (lh). Bayana hoard no. 1821. Weight 8.42 g (130 grains); diameter: 2.03 cm (After Altekar 1954: pl. 31.15).

Fig. 26a-b. Kumāragupta II or III, Archer Type. Obv.: The king, standing to left, holds bow (lh) and arrow (rh), in the left field a GaruΡa-banner; Rev.: Śrī-Lak·mī, seated on a lotus, holds a fillet (rh) and a lotus (lh). Weight 9.65 g (148.9 grains); diameter 2.09 cm. Bharat Kala Bhavan Varanasi, acc. no. 8654, from the Kalighat hoard (Photo E. M. Raven).

Raven 2010 Seated lady and Gupta king

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